


Catastrophic Encounters

by woojinnies



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, M/M, Romance, and fall kinda in love, two nerds basically marathon dramas on the bus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:47:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/woojinnies/pseuds/woojinnies
Summary: Dongmin is a try hard and just wants to survive until graduation, but the boy on the bus refuses to make things that easy. (basically the binu highschool!au nobody asked for)((but can you blame me with all their concepts in high school uniforms honestly))





	1. Chapter 1

Nobody was supposed to be perfect.

That’s what they all say. Perfection is a concept that humans would never be able to reach. And in Dongmin’s case, that was mostly true. He was far from perfect. But he did one hell of a job pretending he was.

There was always that one person who was involved in a hundred extracurriculars, had straight A’s, looked like a model, and managed to make it all look effortless. Dongmin was that person. On the surface, everyone saw a tall, pretty boy who was innately smart and kind. They would go, _oh, people like that do exist._

Except they don’t. They don’t know how much work Dongmin put in to preserve that image. For his visuals, he followed his daily skincare routine to a T, kept a strict, healthy diet, and ironed his clothes every morning. His household was wealthy, too, so he went out of his way to buy extra textbooks or contact private tutors himself because he knew they could afford it. His entire weekends were booked with classes. Free time was a concept Dongmin didn’t have the luxury of indulging in. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he worked himself to the bone to keep it there.

That involved waking up at five every morning to tame his bedhead and make sure no wrinkles blemished his uniform before he took the bus to school. Dongmin was always the first one at school, even arriving before most of the teachers. The reason why it seemed like he was involved in pretty much every club was because he made time for it, he forced it into his schedule. 

Dongmin stifled a yawn and took a sip of coffee from his thermos. He shifted his backpack strap, mentally checking off all the assignments he finished. An English comparative essay. Five pages from his Calculus textbook. Definitions for Chemistry. It was a pretty light workload since they were still easing into the new school year. 

The bus rolled to a stop in front of Dongmin, who got on, smiled at the bus driver, and headed to the third single seat by the window - his usual spot.

Which was taken.

Blinking, Dongmin shook the weariness out of his system and stared at his seat. Every morning, he was the only high schooler on the bus. But there, head resting against the bus window, was a sleeping boy wearing Dongmin’s school’s uniform.

The bus lurched forward, and Dongmin grabbed onto the pole before sliding into the seat behind the boy. He stared at the back of the boy’s head, which honestly looked a little like a bird’s nest, for the whole ride to school. When they came to their stop, Dongmin wondered if he should wake him, but the at the sound of their stop being announced, the boy immediately jerked awake and strode to the front of the bus, leaving Dongmin staring after him.

 

\--

 

By the time the eight o’clock bell rang, Dongmin was putting away the backdrop for the school’s play that he was working on when Jinwoo strode in.

“Woah, you’re here early,” Jinwoo said as he dumped his bag on his desk at the very back. His unbuttoned dress shirt revealed a black band t-shirt, Dongmin noted but didn’t comment on.

Instead, he smiled. “So are you. You usually arrive late.”

Jinwoo snorted as a response. Dongmin walked up to the blackboard and reached up to write the date in the top-right corner. He moved over to the top left to write in the schedule. He already memorized the routine so it was basically muscle memory, which was good because Dongmin’s whole mind was occupied with the sleeping boy on the bus. 

“Hey, um, Jinwoo?” Dongmin turned around, absent-mindedly wiping the chalk from his fingers. Jinwoo looked at him with an arched eyebrow. “Do you ever sleep on the bus?”

Jinwoo let out a surprised laugh. “No way. It’s so uncomfortable.”

“Right?” Dongmin exclaimed, a little excited that he wasn’t the weird one here. “I can’t even sleep on the plane, let alone on a bumpy bus with people chatting away in the seat behind you.”

“I don’t know, maybe if I was super tired I’d be able to,” Jinwoo mused. 

Was Bus Boy super tired? It made sense, given how early it was. But what kind of person, besides someone like Dongmin, would be on the bus two hours before school started? 

Students started filing in and one of them sat down in front of Jinwoo, taking away his attention before Dongmin could ask any more random questions. He walked to his seat in the front row and put his earbuds in, brows furrowed. Bus Boy could have been someone Dongmin passed in the halls, and it had to be someone younger because he knew all the seniors in the school. Dongmin rarely paid attention to the younger grades (he felt a little mean, but none of the seniors did either, to be fair). 

He mindlessly doodled a few Z’s in his planner. Once the teacher walked in, he flipped the page over and slipped it into his bag, effectively forgetting about it as he went about his class president duties.

 

\--

 

The next time Dongmin saw Bus Boy, he got the sense that he knew the boy even though they hadn’t exchanged any words.

He had offered to buy lunch for some bullies who were ratting on a kid to fetch them some bread since money wasn’t an issue for Dongmin and he was tired of hearing their screeching voices. 

When he got up to leave, Jinwoo had stopped him, which surprised Dongmin since the first time they had anything relatively similar to a conversation was this morning. “You don’t have to do this all the time.”

“It’s okay,” Dongmin had smiled, “I want to.”

Well, it wasn’t exactly that he wanted to. It just made everyone’s lives easier. As long as he bought the troublemakers food, they’d listen to him and heckle the teacher less.

Dongmin waited patiently in line, going over the list of items he had to purchase. Two sausage bread. Three cartons of milk (one strawberry). A caesar salad for himself. 

Right as he was about to order, he heard a warm burst of laughter to his left. Glancing over, Dongmin took in the laughing crowd of people seated at a table by the window. A tingling sensation shot through his body. 

In the middle of the group was Bus Boy.

Awake, obviously, with his lips curled up like a cat. Dongmin recognized him immediately. He wasn’t the one laughing - everyone one else. The sun streamed in from the window, showering him in the warm, forgiving light. Right off the bat, Dongmin knew exactly what Bus Boy was like.

Popular. Liked by most, but he had a close group of friends so it didn’t matter. He was handsome, too, at least from a distance. He felt sincere. Maybe it was the sunlight, or his soft smile, but he seemed genuine. 

Like everything Dongmin wasn’t.

“Dongmin,” The lunch lady called his name, and he gave her a ready smile. She handed over the food on a tray. “Have a great lunch.”

“Thank you,” Dongmin said. But he didn’t feel genuine at all. When was the last time he said ‘thank you’ genuinely? 

As he walked away, he heard the students behind him gasping about the lunch lady smiling. She did tend to be rather gruff to everyone else, Dongmin recalled. He didn’t find himself caring. 

Instead of taking the usual route, Dongmin walked the other way so he didn’t have to pass by Bus Boy’s table. He didn’t want Bus Boy to see him. Which was crazy since the guy didn’t even see Dongmin on the bus. But with every step Dongmin took away from the cafeteria, every smile he flashed at passing students, his mind lightened up. 

Being genuine didn’t matter as long as he was a good actor.

 

\--

 

If there was something that irritated Dongmin, he’d do everything he could to avoid it. He already upset himself enough. He didn’t need more people adding onto that. 

He managed to shove the uncomfortable feelings he had towards Bus Boy into a locked cabinet in the furthest corner of his mind, and went about his daily routine with a permanent smile. It was easy to forget about unnerving topics if he made himself busy enough. 

So maybe he was blowing this out of proportion. Bus Boy probably didn’t even know he existed, yet Dongmin was over here making such a big deal about this boy doing absolutely nothing but laughing and being all happy and sincere. Even so, Dongmin made it a habit to wake up even earlier just to take the first bus that he was sure Bus Boy wouldn’t be on. 

Of course, there were times he caught a glimpse of Bus Boy. It was annoying how he reacted. It was like he had an internal radar for Bus Boy; the second they were in the same room, Dongmin could sense him. Even if he wasn’t looking in Bus Boy’s direction, he’d know where the boy was, until one of them left. 

The boy was a walking beam of sunlight that could never go unnoticed. A blinding prick in Dongmin’s life.

Dongmin hated it.

 

\--

 

Things were passing by exactly as predicted. Dongmin aced every single test, did some of the other students’ homework (only the ones who normally handed in their homework on time), and steamrolled through all his extracurriculars. The play passed, so the Art Committee was on break and Dongmin had an extra slot open on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. 

He tapped his pen against his planner, wondering if he should still take the earliest bus. Dongmin had gotten used to waking up so early so it’d mess with his sleep schedule (what little he had of one). The only other clubs left to join were sports teams and that just wasn’t Dongmin’s cup of tea. Dongmin went to bed with a headache and still no answer.

It seemed like his subconscious made his decision for him when he slept past his alarm. He didn’t wake up too late, but if he wanted to make it on time to finish his usual class president tasks and search for the textbooks he needed for Physics, Dongmin had to forgo his neat and tidy image. 

He boarded the bus huffing, smoothing down the back of his messy hair. He paused, looking slowly at his usual seat. 

Of course Bus Boy was here. Of course he was sleeping, with the light hitting his face at just the right angle. 

Dongmin stumbled as the bus started moving, and took heavy steps to the seat behind Bus Boy, feeling like he lost. He put in his earbuds, drowning out the ugly sounds of the bus chugging along. Dongmin’s eyes darted everywhere. He tried his hardest not to stare at Bus Boy, letting his eyes fall instead onto the boy’s bag.

It was a typical Herschel bag, but a splash of colour caught Dongmin’s eye. He leaned forward. 

Oh. Dongmin squinted, making sure he wasn’t seeing things. He wasn’t. Bus Boy had a cute Rilakkuma bag charm hanging from his zipper. Dongmin gave a little involuntary exhale of a chuckle.

“Arriving at Hanlim High School,” the bus announced.

Startled, Dongmin reeled back until he was the furthest he could possibly be from Bus Boy, eyes averted as if the boy could feel his stare. But as the bus rolled to the stop and Dongmin got up, the boy hadn’t moved at all.

Dongmin craned his head to get a peek and to his surprise, Bus Boy was still sleeping. 

“Oh no,” Dongmin groaned, glancing out the window to see their school nearing by the second. “Why me?”

He looked back at Bus Boy, chest rising and falling in deep slumber. Dongmin squeezed his eyes shut. He could leave the boy here. It wasn’t his responsibility, so why should he help?

But Dongmin knew, if their situations were reversed, Bus Boy would have woken him up. He was just that kind of person. 

Sighing, Dongmin gently shook the boy’s shoulder. When that didn’t do it, Dongmin shook a little harder. No reaction. He frowned. The bus rolled to a stop and the driver looked expectantly at the two high schoolers through the mirror. 

Dongmin glanced down at the boy’s name tag. Moon Bin. He felt a stupid sense of victory at giving Bus Boy a name.

Shaking even harder, Dongmin called, “Moon Bin! Wake up! Your stop’s here.”

“Aren’t you getting off?” The bus driver asked impatiently. The other passengers were staring and Dongmin’s face was heating up.

“Just a second,” he smiled sweetly at the driver, who muttered under his breath but made no move to close the doors. For someone who looked young, the driver sure acted like a crotchety old grandpa.

“Bin!” Dongmin hissed. “You don’t want to be late, do you? If you don’t get up, I’m going to leave you here-”

“How kind of you.” 

Bin languidly opened one eye, staring straight at Dongmin, whose mouth had fallen open. He wasn’t shocked at the voice, or the fact that their eye-contact sent shivers through his system, but of what Bin said, or more of how he said it. Dryly. A hint of sarcasm. Like he was mocking Dongmin and the act he put up. 

_How kind._

Did he know? How could he see through Dongmin so easily when this was the first time he saw the guy, for all Bin knew? 

“Sorry!” Bin called out to the bus driver and turned to bow to the rest of the passengers. He smiled sheepishly. “I slept pretty late last night.”

That shook Dongmin out of his stupor. He immediately whirled around and sped-walked out of the bus to school before Bin could say anything else to catch Dongmin in his pretty, little lies.

 

\--

 

For the rest of the day, Dongmin’s nerves were on overdrive. It wasn’t hard to find out the reason why. He couldn’t even try to lie to himself with the way he peered down every hallway, the way he whirled around at the sight of a scruffy-haired, lean boy, the way his entire body straightened at the sound of a raspy timbre.

By the time Dongmin locked the doors to the Strings room, he felt completely exhausted (despite getting more hours of sleep last night) and a little stupid. This was his condition when he barely spoke to the guy. How was he going to survive if they had a proper conversation?

Dongmin frowned, shoving the books into his bag with more force than necessary. Bin didn’t even know his name. He was probably surrounded all day long, why would he even bother finding out Dongmin’s name? 

“Prez!” Dongmin looked up to see a pigtailed girl run down the hall to him. She screeched to a stop in front of him. “Prez, I’m super, super sorry but did you already lock the Strings room?”

Dongmin stared at her for a beat, taking in her sweats. “Yeah, did you need to borrow out an instrument?”

She visibly deflated. “Oh, then nevermind.”

“Wait,” Dongmin tried to place a name, “Sana. I can just unlock it. I still have the keys with me.”

“Oh no, it’s okay, you don’t have to-” 

The sound of the key unlocking the door cut her off. Dongmin swung the door open with a kind smile. 

She stared at him, eyes shining with what Dongmin easily recognized as a crush blooming. “Thank you. That’s really kind of you.”

He waved her into the room before bending down to pick up his bag. Hoisting it over one shoulder, he patiently waited for her to grab her viola and sign it out. She thanked him again on her way out. 

This, this felt normal. Being kind came automatically with Dongmin, because he found it so easy just to help out and the look they give him afterwards, the one that says _you’ve won me over_ , always made him feel like he was finally doing something right.

The two administrator ladies shot him the same look when he dropped off the Strings room key and wished them a good rest of the day. All the polite manners, innocent smiles, the whole image was so easy to maintain. To fool. 

Finally relaxing for the first time that day, Dongmin hummed as he made his way to the bus stop. Right as he arrived, a bus pulled to a stop. _This is how it’s supposed to be,_ Dongmin thought as he boarded and scanned his card, _This is the universe making it up to me._

Surprise, surprise, his seat was empty. Dongmin was the first one at school and the last one out, as per usual. He sank into his spot with a smug smile.

Dongmin put in his earbuds as the bus lurched forward, only to pull them out when the bus suddenly screeched to a stop. A boy in sweats stepped onto the bus, thanking the driver profusely. With every step he took further into the bus, the dread in Dongmin’s stomach grew, until he stopped right in front of Dongmin.

Of course he would. Because this was Bin’s seat. Or rather, this was the seat Bin stole from Dongmin. It was also the last empty seat in the whole bus.

Dongmin refused to stare up at Bin, especially since he wasn’t even in school uniform. He put in his earbuds again, letting Can’t Get Enough drown out the awkwardness, and internally groaned at how long this bus drive was going to be since it was rush hour. 

Eventually, Dongmin saw his neighbourhood pull into view (since he had been pointedly staring out the window the entire ride). He risked a glance up at Bin. Who was looking straight at him.

_Oh. Oh no. He saw me looking at him which means I have to say something, otherwise, it’ll get even more awkward. Why is he still looking at me? Was he looking at me the whole way here? Why am I still looking at him? I could’ve looked away by now, oh my god._

“Arriving at-” 

“That’s my stop,” Dongmin blurted out. He stood up abruptly, and to his misfortune, misjudged the distance between them. 

It was so close. Their noses would have brushed if Bin didn’t duck his head. Instead of their noses touching, it was Bin’s forehead making contact to Dongmin’s chin. Dongmin couldn’t tell which was better.

“Ow,” Bin groaned, holding his forehead. “You have a hard chin.”

“You have a hard forehead!” Dongmin said, feeling oddly offended. 

The bus rolled to a stop, and Dongmin would have toppled over if Bin didn’t grab onto his arm. “I thought this was your stop.”

“Oh.” Dongmin grabbed his bag. His mind wasn’t functioning at all. “Right.”

As he was maneuvering around the people, Dongmin heard Bin say something softly behind him. He craned his head after stepping off the bus, but he could barely make out the top of Bin’s perpetually messy hair.

Dongmin found himself rooted at the bus stop long after the bus drove away, one hand over the spot where Bin grabbed onto him, the other on his chin. It felt like it was bruising, but it wasn’t the only thing that was. 

_Guess you aren’t Mr. Perfect after all._


	2. Chapter 2

Next morning, Dongmin woke up with all the nerves in his body on full alert. He went about his morning routine mindlessly, practically bursting out of the house and speed-walking to the bus stop. He craned his head to look for the bus.

His foot kept tapping a rapid beat, hand wringing his backpack strap until the bus finally came into view. Dongmin took a deep breath. 

He didn’t have an excuse for why the first thing he did when he stepped on the bus was glance at this spot. It didn’t matter anyway because it was empty.

Deflating, Dongmin scanned his card. When he turned to walk to his seat, he finally broadened his view and took in the rest of the bus. Bin was sleeping in the seat behind his.

Ignoring the thought that Bin actively chose another seat (meaning he knew that was Dongmin’s seat), Dongmin marched right up to him with the words he had been rehearsing all night right on the tip of his tongue. 

(For all the time he dedicated to thinking about it, he never once wondered why it bothered him so much.)

Dongmin was ready to go, ready to finally let Bin have it, but all that energy immediately dissipated as Bin continued to peacefully sleep away. What could he do? An unconscious boy wasn’t going to be able to fully appreciate Dongmin’s rant.

Now Dongmin was scowling, which really didn’t suit his pretty face, he knew.

The bus announced 36th Road, which meant they were four stops away from Hanlim. Okay, Dongmin had to find the right timing for this comeback. He couldn’t just blurt it out randomly because that wouldn’t have the proper impact, so how was he supposed to segway it into a conversation? Wait, that meant he had to start a proper conversation first.

38th Road. Two stops. 

He heard shifting behind him - oh no, Bin was awake, he was lifting his bag from the ground - and Dongmin whirled around to face Bin before he ran out of time. At the sudden movement, Bin looked up at him. 

With the eye contact, Dongmin lost all control over his tongue. Bin asked, a little confused, “What’s wrong?”

“You,” Dongmin managed out. At Bin’s persistent, concerned stare, Dongmin blurted out, “You should sleep more.”

“What?” Bin’s eyes grew even wider.

“Because you’re always sleeping on the bus and it’s honestly very uncomfortable and normal people don’t fall asleep so quickly and deeply like you do. I don’t know what you’re getting up to at night, but,” Dongmin slowed down, mind catching up to the garbage he was currently spewing, _wrong rant, Dongmin,_ “that’s no excuse for sleeping on the bus.”

“I’m sorry, I-” Bin bit his lip, looking like he was going to explode with laughter any second. 

“Arriving at Hanlim High School,” sang the angels’ choir.

Dongmin sprang out of his seat, face so hot he could practically hear the sizzling steam rising into the air. What happened to the _I’m gonna give Bin a piece of my mind?_ Where did the _perfection is a concept thought up by disillusioned egotists who think it’s possible to be completely unflawed_ go? Why didn’t he just say _how about you shut your pretty face up?_ Why couldn’t Dongmin shut his own pretty face up?

“Hang on! Wait a second,” he heard Bin call after him, but Dongmin had absolutely zero intention of staying and embarrassing himself even further. This was why he only answered questions he knew the answer to in class. This was exactly why he never struck up a conversation with random strangers, because once he opened his mouth, the connection between his mind to his mouth was sadly severed.

So Dongmin blazed a trail to the school entrance, but of course Bin was a jock, of course he could catch up to Dongmin despite the latter’s ridiculously long legs. 

He grabbed onto Dongmin’s arm, which effectively put him to a stop. Contact of any kind from Bin did that to him, Dongmin was starting to realize.

“You’re always bolting off the bus the second the doors open,” Bin said. Dongmin hated how he didn’t sound the slightest out of breath. “It’s not a competition to arrive here first, you know.”

“That’s not why-” Dongmin cut himself off from replying. He knew better.

He started walking again, but to his dismay (he categorized that uncomfortable feeling in his stomach as dismay), Bin followed after him. 

“You’re right,” said Bin.

Dongmin didn’t spare him a glance as he rounded the corner to the stairwell, but by the time they passed the second floor and Bin was still there, still waiting, Dongmin finally gave in with a sigh. “What, exactly, am I right about?”

Bin gave him the brightest grin, like he was genuinely glad that Dongmin asked. There it was again. The _g-word_. “That I need more sleep. It’s 100% my fault, since I stay up until, like, two in the morning. Gaming. Or reading webtoons. But definitely not doing anything productive, like sleeping. Though, I don’t see why sleeping on the bus is a bad thing.”

“It’s not _bad,_ ” Dongmin said slowly, trying to choose his words this time. They were on the fourth floor now, and Bin was still trailing after him. “It just might be a little inconvenient. Also, it’s bad for your health? At least for your back and neck.”

Bin snorted at that, which was reasonable because that was just pure bullshit on Dongmin’s part, but it wasn’t a mean snort. More like Dongmin cracked a joke that Bin actually found amusing. “Are you worried about me?”

“No,” Dongmin said unconvincingly.

He walked into his classroom before Bin could reply and hung his bag on his seat. He pulled out his physics binder, clear Muji pencil case, and agenda, which he used to find today’s date and what he had to write on the board. 

“Oh.” Dongmin shut his eyes at the sound of Bin’s voice. He was still here. Why was he still here? “So you’re a senior. Front row seat. Shouldn’t be a surprise.”

“Shouldn’t you be in class right now?” 

“We passed it on the way up.” Bin held up three fingers in an OK sign. “Third floor. Also, we still have an hour before school starts.”

So he was a junior, Dongmin noted. He stared as Bin plopped himself in the seat beside Dongmin’s. It was kind of amazing how Bin didn’t look out of place in the senior’s classroom. Sometimes, even Dongmin didn’t feel like he belonged here. Where did Bin find all that self-confidence? 

But of course Dongmin didn’t ask that, and went with the more casual, “Then what are you doing here so early?”

“Practice, mainly.” Bin tilted his head. “That’s about the only reason why I would stay at school a second longer than I have to. And what about you, Mr. Perfect?”

“I’m not-” Dongmin glared as Bin interrupted him with a _yeah-right_ snort. 

“I asked what you do here. It’s not an invitation to argue about whether or not you’re perfect. Which, just for the record, is an argument I will win.”

“Well, for your information,” Dongmin said after a long-suffering sigh. He glanced at the blackboard, which was still blank. With Bin beside him, even Dongmin’s daily routine felt self-conscious and awkward. He did this everyday. Why was he feeling so unconfident? “Mondays, there are Student Council meetings. Tuesdays and Thursdays, I work on art pieces the Art Council still need to complete. Wednesdays are for Peer Tutoring and Fridays are - sorry,” Dongmin caught himself before he delved into his schedule even further. He smiled awkwardly. “I - I talk a lot sometimes. Ramble, more like. You should stop me when it happens.”

“No, no, no,” Bin shook his head and hands furtively at the same time. It reminded Dongmin of a dog shaking off water. “It’s very interesting!”

“I know it’s not,” Dongmin said dryly, “No need to lie.”

“No, really, it really is. Your life sounds absolutely crazy, like, how do you fit that much on your plate?” 

“I guess I.” Dongmin was pretty sure Bin wasn’t being sarcastic, so he gave it some thought, too. It always seemed so simple to him. He held up his agenda. “Use an agenda. Stay organized?”

“Wow, I guess planners really do make a difference. I think I lost mine, though. Too bad.”

“Are you serious?” Dongmin asked incredulously. “School literally started two weeks ago. How do you - oh god, I don’t even want to know the state of your backpack.”

“There isn’t much to keep track of.” Bin shrugged. “I mean, the only thing I really pay attention to is dance practice. And maybe Language, but I just need my notebook for that. Wow, I can’t imagine what would happen if I lost that.”

“You _dance?_ ” It made sense, strangely. “And write?”

Language was never Dongmin’s strong suit. He did score high marks, but he had to work even harder than the other subjects to do so. It was more about analyzing. For someone who over thought so much, Dongmin could never find out the hidden meanings and significance of why this word was placed at the start of the paragraph, or why “cyan” was used to describe the curtains instead of “blue.”

“Yeah, Tuesday and Thursday mornings and every other day after school.”

Dongmin thought back to the time he saw Bin in sweats after school. His practice lasted two to three hours, then - no wonder he looked so exhausted. Physical activity wasn’t really Dongmin’s thing, but he can only imagine how vigorous a two-hour practice must be. And he didn’t even get proper sleep. That must be why Bin fell asleep on the bus all the time. Dongmin didn’t even think his own workload was that much, but the state of Bin’s life tired him out just from imagining it. 

“What are you thinking about with a frown like that?” Bin said, leaning forward. His fringe fell into his eyes in a way that amplified Dongmin’s heart beating. “Are you worrying about me again?”

“Don’t be so self-centered!” Dongmin exclaimed, flustered that Bin hit the mark. And from the smirk the junior was giving him, Bin knew, too.

“Well, it was fun chatting with you, but I better get to practice before Momo bites my head off.” Before Dongmin could react, Bin reached out a hand and ruffled his hair until it was spiking up in every direction. Speechless, Dongmin watched as Bin slung his bag over his shoulder and stood up. “Catch you later, Dongmin.”

He walked off like he didn’t just mess up the hair that Dongmin spent a good half hour on this morning. Dongmin raised a hand to gingerly comb through his ruined locks. It was beyond saving.

Dongmin dropped his arm, giving up. The movement reflected light off his watch briefly, catching his attention. He stood up so quickly his chair probably made marks on the floor. There was no way he spent that much time talking to Bin.

“Damn it,” Dongmin muttered to himself as he walked up to the board. “I never got around to saying my comeback.”

-

For the first time in his entire school career, Dongmin was itching to get out of class. He always used his tryhard, above-and-beyond persona to give excuses for why he always came home late, instead of just simply admitting that he didn’t like staying in an empty house. But today, Dongmin kept shooting glances at the clock, willing the minute hand to tick faster and faster until it hit twelve.

It was just his luck that today was not only the deadline for the mural in front of the main office, but also the day that half of his Art Council flaked on him. The remaining members of Art Council complained to high heavens, but Dongmin willed it through despite his hand cramping from painting over so many bricks. 

By the time they were finished, Dongmin wondered if he had enough time to change out of his dirty paint clothes into his pristine uniform and still make the bus. Was it even worth it anymore?

Sighing, he stared out the north window overseeing the entrance of the school. Startled, Dongmin rubbed his eyes. There, waiting by his bus stop, was the 24 bus parked patiently.

Dongmin hurried down the stairs and burst out the entrance, practically breaking into a run all the way to the bus. He didn’t care that his pants were streaked with various shades of blues and greens, that his hair was probably stuck in a million different directions, that he was completely out of breath and red-faced from running. He boarded the bus panting, and stared at Bin who was chatting with the bus driver pleasantly.

It took a moment for Bin to realize that Dongmin was on the bus, and he turned and greeted Dongmin with a bright, blinding smile. “Hey, you.”

He didn’t wait for a response and turned back to the bus driver. “Thank you so much, Mr. Oh. I hope you make it home in time for the new episode.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll make sure not to spoil it for you,” the bus driver said, smiling. 

Dazed, Dongmin scanned his card and followed Bin to their usual seats. After they sat down, Bin pulled out a Pocky box and offered one to Dongmin, who, no surprise, said “yes.”

Dongmin watched as Bin munched away, and as the last bit of strawberry icing disappeared, he said, “It’s rush hour.”

Bin didn’t say anything, just continued eating. It looked like he got used to how Dongmin worked and was waiting for Dongmin to gather his thoughts before talking again.

“How did you get the bus driver to wait? He stops here for maybe all of thirty seconds for any remaining high schoolers before driving off.”

“I started talking to him about k-dramas, and then asked if he could wait a bit because we both got very into talking about the latest drama.”

“K-dramas?” Dongmin repeated, trying to wrap his mind around it all. In all of his three years of riding this bus home, he didn’t know the bus driver’s name was Mr. Oh, nor did he ever manage to wrangle a smile out of the man. 

“Yeah, I could recommend some to you if you want.”

“I don’t know if I have time to watch them. They’re like an hour each episode and two episodes a week, right?” Dongmin said, waving around his unbitten Pocky stick. “That’s so much commitment!”

“Wow, that’s rich coming from you. You’re involved in like fifteen clubs. Besides, you can always make time for something if you really like it.” Bin took a bite into another Pocky stick. “If your biggest worry is that you won’t have enough time for them and not that you won’t like them, then it’s not a big issue. You can be like me and sacrifice sleep!”

“But if I’m not as attached to them and they’re not going to contribute anything to my future, is it even worth starting a drama?”

“That’s up to you.” Bin shrugged. “It’s your priorities. But personally, when I start one, I want to stick with it just to see the ending, you know? Then, I can judge if investing sixteen hours of my time or more was worth it. Every drama still has its good moments, you know, the moments that makes you laugh or cry or, my favourite, yell at the screen.”

Dongmin bit his lip, growing painfully aware again of his messy hair and paint-splattered casual clothes. Bin never mentioned anything about his change of appearance. Bin was sitting there, looking at Dongmin like he wasn’t Mr. Perfect, but still his own kind of perfect.

Dongmin finally took a bite of his Pocky stick.

-

One of the weirdest things any student would wish never happened was seeing their teacher outside of school. It was weird realizing that teachers were regular humans, too. Whether it was a run-in at the grocery store where they were in sweats with a cart full of instant noodles or catching a glimpse of them at the mall, it was something all students wanted to avoid their entire school career.

So Dongmin nearly made an 180 degree turn when he saw his English teacher standing at his bus stop. He hadn’t realized it was Mr. Lu at first because honestly speaking, the teacher was really young. A lot of the English teachers were, actually. Dongmin had thought it was another teenager or young adult until he was close enough that Mr. Lu had already noticed him and called out his name. 

Dongmin reluctantly joined Mr. Lu at the bus stop and bowed. Maybe showing up at school an hour early was not a good idea all the time. 

“You live a little far from school,” Mr. Lu said. “I thought you would have lived right across the street since it seems like you’re at school all the time.”

“Ah, yes,” Dongmin nodded. “I mainly go early for extracurriculars.”

“Wow, so dedicated.”

Dongmin winced at the silence that followed. He couldn’t help but wonder what Bin would do in this kind of situation. He definitely wouldn’t have lapsed into awkward silence. Bin seemed like the type of person that anyone could and would actually enjoy talking to.

“Mr. Lu,” Dongmin blurted out, and the teacher glanced up at him. Dongmin was used to towering over his teachers, but it was still a little odd, especially out of the school setting. “Why are you taking the bus? This is the first time I’ve seen you here.”

“Ah, I got in a minor car accident. I’m fine, but I can’t say the same for my poor Estella,” Mr. Lu sighed. Dongmin laughed out of surprise. He knew his English teacher was rather odd but he definitely didn't expect Mr. Lu to name his cars. “I’m just waiting for repairs to be done.”

Dongmin nodded, not sure what else to say. To his relief, the bus came chugging around the corner. He let Mr. Lu board first. For some reason, the teacher was taking a long time with his card. 

He could hear Mr. Oh’s monotone drawl. “We don’t accept coins.”

“Oh, really?” Dongmin could practically hear Mr. Lu dial up his million-watt smile. “I’m sure you can let this slide. You see, I just got in a car accident last night so all this is very last-minute. I promise next time I’ll have a transportation card.”

“You’re an adult and judging by your Korean, you’re not a tourist. This can’t be the first time you took the bus.”

Dongmin stepped up onto the bus and reached around Mr. Lu to press his card against the sensor twice.

“Dongmin,” Mr. Lu said, turning to give Dongmin a surprised look. The tips of his ears were red. “Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I can’t believe my student just paid for my bus fare.”

The doors shut behind Dongmin who gently pushed Mr. Lu further into the bus. “No, don’t worry about it. It happens.”

“I promise I have a transportation card and I’m a functioning adult. I just haven’t used it in forever.” To Dongmin’s surprise, the teacher plopped down in Dongmin’s seat. Dongmin ended up standing in front of him and holding onto the pole, since they were still in mid-conversation. “I was sure buses still accepted coins.”

Dongmin shrugged. “It depends on the driver. It’s safer to use a card. And cheaper, too.”

“Yeah, but still, he didn’t need to be so-” Mr. Lu cut himself off. Dongmin glanced up, and noticed that Mr. Lu was smiling brightly at the driver, who was glaring at them through the rearview mirror. 

Mr. Lu called out, “Good morning to you, too, sir.”

Mr. Oh merely cocked an eyebrow, but Dongmin could feel the waves of disdain rolling off of him. Before Dongmin could think more of it, they were at Bin’s stop. His eyes instinctively darted to the door - it was Tuesday - and watched as Bin boarded the bus, an effortless smile already in place to greet their grumpy driver.

“Good morning, Mr. Oh!” He said brightly. “Did you catch last night’s episode of _Goblin?_ ”

Mr. Oh’s lips quirked into his version of a smile. “Yeah, but I think my favourite character is changing.”

“What? You can’t give up on the Grim Reaper!”

“Wow,” Mr. Lu said from Dongmin’s side, and Dongmin agreed. How could Bin not even look his way? “Who knew Grumpycat could smile?”

Dongmin surprised both himself and Mr. Lu by laughing at that. He realized that he actually felt at ease around his teacher, even outside of school. It was probably due to Mr. Lu’s young age. He was barely in his late twenties but acted even younger.

Mr. Lu stared at Dongmin in shock. “Wow, who knew _you_ could laugh? That’s the first time I’ve heard it in my whole career of teaching you.”

Dongmin immediately cut his laugh off. Before he could reply, he felt someone by his side and turned to almost bang his nose into Bin’s cheek, which would be a mortifying reenactment of what happened the first time he tried to talk to Bin.

“Good morning, Mr. Lu,” Bin smiled at their teacher. Maybe it was the weird angle, but Dongmin thought there was something off about the smile. 

“Good morning, Bin! I didn’t know you took the same bus as Dongmin.”

Dongmin glanced at Bin. “He’s your English teacher, too?”

Bin gave a jerky nod before tugging at Dongmin’s backpack strap. “Hey, you want to head to our usual seats?”

“Oh, um,” Dongmin glanced at Mr. Lu, who grinned and made shoo motions with his hand. “Okay.”

Bin led him to the seats in the back corner of the bus and somehow maneuvered it so that Dongmin was between Bin and the window. The cramped space forced him to fold his long legs, which resulted in some contact between him and Bin, who also had relatively long limbs.

“I remember why I never sit back here now,” Dongmin sighed. He glanced at Bin. “Hey, what was up with you? These aren’t our usual seats.”

Bin shrugged, staring out the window from the opposite side. “Our usual seats were taken, so these are our backup usual seats.”

“Guess we’ll be sitting here for the next week or so, then. Mr. Lu will be taking the bus for around that time, and I’m guessing he’ll take my spot.”

“How did you know that?” 

“Oh, he waits at the same bus stop as me! What a coincidence, right?” Dongmin furrowed his brows when Bin still wouldn’t look his way. He didn’t know why but he felt the need to give excuses. “When someone you know takes the same bus as you, you either talk to them the entire way or you avoid them the entire way.” 

Bin finally glanced at him at that part, so Dongmin continued to barrel on. “We just happened to strike up a conversation and it continued onto the bus. It was really awkward at first, because you know, seeing teachers outside of school and all, but Mr. Lu’s actually surprisingly easy to talk to!”

“I see,” Bin said, immediately closing off again.

 _What is happening?_ Dongmin blinked. It was like Bin had a personality switch overnight. Who was the one initiating all the conversations? Who was the one who followed Dongmin into his classroom? Was he mad? Was this revenge for Dongmin being all quiet and unresponsive in the beginning? Bin wouldn’t do that, though. Did he not get enough sleep? Did he have a test first period?

“Hey, um, Bin?” Dongmin asked hesitantly, trying to quiet the questions in his head. “I’ve been meaning to ask, is _Goblin_ any good?”

Bin stilled for a second, then finally fully faced Dongmin. He stared at Dongmin for a beat, but as if detecting the sincerity in Dongmin’s question, Bin’s whole demeanor softened. His usual smile popped up. “It’s _amazing._ I’m not sure if it’s the ideal gateway drama, but it’s highly popular and addictive so I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

Dongmin involuntarily grinned at how Bin lit up as he described his dramas and other choices Dongmin should try. Dongmin barely listened to what Bin was saying, but focused instead on the way his variety of expressions and gestures flying all over the place as he tried to get his point across. 

“Oh! Actually, I have the first few episodes of _Goblin_ downloaded on my phone. Do you want to see it?” Bin already had his phone out.

“Sure. It sounds fun,” Dongmin smiled. The relief of Bin talking to him again still didn’t wear off yet, but Dongmin didn’t want to analyze why this effect lasted so long. Instead, he stuffed in one of Bin’s earbuds and spent the rest of the ride immersed in a world full of immortal souls and eighteen-year-old brides.

“This is crazy,” Dongmin said at one point. “Can you imagine getting married right now?”

“That’s not the point! She’s special. It’s not really a marriage.”

“Wow, think of the age gap. He’s like nine centuries older. What the fuck.”

“Oh my god,” Bin leaned his head back as if asking the heavens why Dongmin was like this. “Isn’t it crazier how sucky of a life she had? Isn’t it sad how her life goal is to kill her husband?”

Dongmin shrugged. “That’s all fiction.”

Despite Bin’s growing frustration at Dongmin’s random reactions and offhanded comments, their bus rides started turning into drama test trials, complete with occasional snacks like lollipops or Pocky sticks. It turned out that though the back seats were cramped, it was a great way to get immersed into another universe since it felt like they were removed from the rest of the bus. Occasionally, Dongmin would have short conversations with Mr. Lu but they would usually end once Bin boarded the bus. Then, most of his time was dedicated to sampling the first two episodes of all kinds of dramas, ranging from rom-coms to spy capers to murder mysteries.

“It’s my life mission to find a drama that you will not make fun of,” Bin had declared on their sixth drama. It was about a police task force created to retaliate against corrupt officials through cons, or as Dongmin described it, _A teddy bear teams up with a fox to make people pay taxes._ Dongmin’s life mission was to summarize all the dramas he watched into one sentence.

“I don’t make fun of them,” Dongmin said slowly, wondering if Bin was offended. He didn’t seem like it, but Dongmin didn’t want to relive Bin’s cold shoulder. “I just appreciate parts of them that most people don’t.”

“Like how Ma Dong-seok looks like a teddy bear?”

“He does!” Dongmin gestured at the tiny phone screen. “How do you not see the gruff, yet still adorable teddy bear in him?”

“You’re impossible,” Bin said in exasperation, but Dongmin saw that tiny smile. 

Impossible sounded more like a compliment than Mr. Perfect ever did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i actually went through 3 other plots (2 angsty, 1 cavity-inducing fluff) before choosing to go in this direction. so! this will be the tone for most of the series, which should be rather short.


End file.
